For many seniors, there’s perhaps nothing more frustrating than having to pay taxes on their Social Security benefits. In fact, it can feel like a real slap in the face.
The way to qualify for Social Security benefits in retirement is to pay taxes on wages throughout your career. To then have those benefits taxed seems like the IRS is coming after you twice.
As part of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to get rid of taxes on Social Security. And lo and behold, at this point, an estimated 88% of Social Security recipients aren’t on the hook for those taxes, the White House reports. But that doesn’t mean taxes on Social Security actually disappeared.
A big change exempts most seniors from having their benefits taxed
Last year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law in July. And it included a number of key tax changes.
One notable change was a new $6,000 senior tax deduction. As a result of that deduction, most seniors who receive Social Security now don’t have to pay taxes on their benefits because their income is reduced to a low enough level where those taxes won’t apply.
But that’s not the same thing as taxes on Social Security benefits going away. Not only do those taxes still exist, but many higher earners still have to pay them. That’s because the new senior tax deduction phases out for seniors with higher incomes (and even if it didn’t, some very wealthy retirees would still be liable for those taxes).
Furthermore, the new $6,000 senior tax deduction is only applicable to tax years 2025 through 2028. There’s a chance lawmakers could opt to extend that provision. But unless they do, taxes on Social Security benefits could come back into the picture for seniors who aren’t required to pay them this year.
Why taxes on Social Security benefits aren’t such a bad thing
When you worked hard all your life to qualify for Social Security and have a limited income in retirement, the idea of paying taxes on those benefits may seem horrible. But even before the new $6,000 senior tax deduction, the typical senior with no income outside of Social Security wasn’t paying taxes on those benefits anyway.
Now if you’re someone with a generous retirement income, you may have to pay taxes on those monthly benefits. But by paying, you may be doing your part to prevent Social Security cuts.
Social Security is facing a serious funding shortfall. In the coming years, it expects to owe more in benefits than it collects in revenue as baby boomers retire in droves.
Social Security relies on taxes collected on benefits for funding. So the fact that those taxes still exist could help prevent or minimize program cuts.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to avoid having your Social Security taxed. And a good way to do so is to house your savings in a Roth retirement plan. If you do, withdrawals won’t count as taxable income, making you less likely to have your benefits taxed.
If you don’t have your savings in a Roth account already, you can look into doing a conversion. Just watch your timing, since Roth conversions could drive your income up temporarily, leading to huge tax consequences.
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